Hollow fiber liquid phase microextraction combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of emerging contaminants in water samples

Abstract This document describes a microextraction technique using a porous polypropylene hollow fiber for the analysis of 27 emerging contaminants (ECs) in water samples by means of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The ECs under study were aniline, metformin, acetaminophen, carbazole, aldicarb, caffeine, thiabendazole, carbaryl, ibuprofen, atrazine, carbofuran, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, ametryn, bisphenol A, diuron, carbamazepine, methyl parathion, disulfoton, triclosan, diazinon, tebuconazole, malathion, chlorpyrifos, hydrocortisone, temephos, glibenclamide and 4 nitrophenol. The chromatographic separation was achieved in 13 min. The analyte detection was carried out using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, allowing the detection of a precursor ion and its fragmentation (product ions). The two-phase hollow fiber liquid phase microextraction conditions were optimized considering the parameters: organic solvent selection, sample pH, fiber length, sample volume, extraction time, stirring rate, sample temperature and salting-out effect. The developed method was validated. Detection and quantification limits were in the range of 1.09 to 98.15 ng L−1 and 2.13 to 126.50 ng L−1, respectively. The range of enrichment factor was from 6 to 4177. The method was successfully applied to water samples from various sources such as effluents from sewage treatment plants and surface water.